BOJ minutes: members ditched timeframe due to worries about communication

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FILE PHOTO - People walk on a street in front of the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Some Bank of Japan board members said it was appropriate to ditch the central bank’s timeframe for achieving its price target because investors were linking the timeframe to changes in monetary policy, minutes of their April policy meeting showed on Wednesday.

Members worried that sticking with the timeframe could hamper communication with markets, the minutes showed.

One member expressed concern that deleting the timeframe would weaken the BOJ’s commitment to price stability.

At the April meeting, the BOJ kept policy unchanged but dropped the timeframe it had set for hitting its inflation target, in a surprise move analysts say is aimed at keeping market expectations for more stimulus in check.